Foreign Minister Cameron Says Britain Remains Suspended Funding For UNRWA Until Investigation Is Complete

UNRWA service at the Palestinian refugee shelter. (Twitter/@UNRWA)

JAKARTA - British Foreign Minister David Cameron said his party would continue to suspend funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) until the investigation into the alleged connection with the Palestinian militant group Hamas is complete.

In an interview with BBC Sunday Foreign Minister Cameron said he would sue for more before funding resumes, as quoted by The National News May 13.

Foreign Minister Cameron said he wanted to see "real efforts" from UNRWA "that they would properly investigate these things, that this would not happen again, that (they) changed their procedure and everything else, because you can't expect us to get back together and start funding an organization, when some of its workers got involved on October 7".

"The UK is waiting for the findings of the second report," said Cameron.

The UN agency working for Palestinian refugees was investigated following Israeli allegations that some of its staff were linked to Hamas, with 12 of them being said to have been involved in an attack on Israel's southern region last October 7.

The allegations were met by UNRWA by conducting an internal investigation. The UN Secretary General also formed an independent external review team against UNRWA led by the former French Foreign Minister. This was carried out in conjunction with an investigation conducted by the UN Internal Supervision Service Office (OIOS),

A number of donor countries have decided to temporarily suspend their funding. Later, a number of countries decided to continue funding, including Canada and Australia, in line with the explanations and steps taken by UNRWA.

Last March, the Israeli military said UN aid agencies in Gaza UNRWA employed more than 450 "military operators" from Hamas and other armed militant groups, with this intelligence information being shared with the United Nations.

"More than 450 UNRWA employees are members of the military in terror groups in Gaza. More than 450 people. This is not just a coincidence. This is systematic. There is no claim 'We don't know'," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel

"We are sending the information I share now, as well as further intelligence information, to our international partners, including the United Nations," he continued.

Earlier this month, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland said many donor countries were continuing funding, except for Britain, Austria, and Switzerland, while the United States has yet to decide whether to continue funding, after the suspension ends in March 2025.

Palestinian leaders accuse Israel of carrying out a political attack on UNRWA, calling for funding of the agency to resume.

It is known that UNRWA employs 13,000 staff in Gaza, providing daily assistance to more than half of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza. The freezing of funding dramatically exacerbated the tensions experienced by the agency which has been very burdened for nearly five months of war.